


to crush love with thy cruel faultless feet

by crowdedmasks (emptymasks)



Series: Follow Thy Fair Sun, Unhappy Shadow [2]
Category: The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Genre: Insecurity, Jealousy, M/M, Rated E for chapter 2, Self-Esteem Issues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:46:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25699768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emptymasks/pseuds/crowdedmasks
Summary: “Darling, are you… Are you jealous?” He said it like he was fucking coy. How dare he?!“Of course I’m fucking jealous, I don't want to be with anyone else and you clearly fucking do!"
Relationships: Dmitri Desgoffe und Taxis/Gustave H.
Series: Follow Thy Fair Sun, Unhappy Shadow [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1511924
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15





	to crush love with thy cruel faultless feet

This night was fucking bullshit.

It was The Grand Budapest’s annual party to celebrate the opening of the Nebelsbad Winter Carnival and so the hotel was full and bustling. Gustave had coerced him to come along but Dmitri had been perfectly happy to stay in their suite thank you very much, but Gustave could be very fucking persuasive when he wanted to be.

“I promise it won’t be so bad, Dmitri. You really need a change of air and atmosphere, darling, you can't keep being cooped up in here. We're working on making the people... well not trust you, but at least tolerate you again.”

“Did you forget the part where everyone thinks I’m a criminal?”

“Well… You _are_ a criminal, my dear boy.”

“I fucking know that I, ugh,” Dmitri had thrown his hands up in the air as Gustave just stared at him with those stupid warm eyes. “I’m not wearing anything fucking fancy okay.” He said, already storming off to get changed out of his robe and into an all-black suit (he owned no other kind).

Gustave had said he looked handsome and ushered him out of the room. “You might like being fashionably late darling, but to me being tardy is not something one should encourage by thinking its ‘fashionable’.”

Dmitri had scoffed and let Gustave guide them into the lift.

“Ground floor please, Igor.”

Gustave stood way more fucking close than he needed to be. The lift was plenty big enough for three people to stand a fair distance apart. Yes there’d been together for a little while now and while Dmitri was starting to cope with the physical contact behind closed doors he was not ready for anyone else to know about their relationship yet. Could you imagine the headlines? ‘Disgraced Count In Bed With Man Who He Tried To Frame For The Murder Of His Mother Who He Actually Hired A Hitman To Kill’… Okay so that wasn’t the snappiest title you there was no way to spin that headline to make Dmitri’s reputation rise… though was there really anyway for it to sink any lower than it already had. Though it had less sunk and more nosedived into the deepest part of the ocean strapped to heavy weights.

He’d not much thought about the people of Nebelsbad, but perhaps now he was thankful they were so easily amicable, or at least made amicable by Gustave. He put a lot of why no one at the hotel had tried to kill him yet, or asked for him to leave to hotel, or hell leave the country, down to Gustave. The man had been weaving stories of rehabilitation and forgiveness and how holding grudges wasn’t good for anyone’s soul and how Dmitri wasn’t born this way and so his misgivings could be weaved into something new and bright and for everyone not to judge him so harshly. Fucking candy-ass was too soft for his own good. Dmitri definitely didn’t feel anything remotely fond when he heard Gustave singing his praises to the other guests and hotel employees.

But it seemed Gustave’s annoying charm had worked. Sure people we looking and staring at him here and there, but no one had come over and tried to talk with him, which some would see as a bad thing but that was very much a win in Dmitri’s mind as the last thing he wanted to have to do here was to have conversations.

God parties were so frustrating. So much noise and so many people. Normally at least he had his sisters with him and would just stick with them while the occasional person came over to introduce themselves or make conversation. His sisters were always better at coming off as friendly than he ever did. But his sisters weren’t here, they weren’t even in Nebelsbad, all of them enjoying time away from the cold and snow on holidays. He was glad for that, at least, that they were getting a break. He had planned to join them originally but then there’d been issues with trying to leave the country and a certain ex-concierge had come along back into his life and prized him open with soft words and physical affection (who dares do that, right) and fucked his brains out and now he sort of… didn’t want to leave. He wasn’t sure what was happening between them, he… He’d never really been in a relationship like this. Not that he hadn’t dated anyone before Gustave and not that he was a virgin before Gustave. Just… it had been a long time since he’d even tried or thought about dating anyone… since he was a teenagers or in his twenties… life had just sort of happened and no one was ever good enough for him in his mother’s eyes (though to her he was also not good enough for anyone else, including herself).

“Dmitri?” He was jolted out of his thoughts by Gustave’s voice and his warm hand gently pressing into his forearm. “Are you alright? You’re scowling.”

“Was just thinking about…”

“About?”

“Nothing. Family, I guess.” Dmitri tried to shrug as casually as he could.

“Ah yes, I do seem to recall you clustering with your sisters at the parties here. I know I’m not family, but hopefully I can make do as pleasurable company.”

“Don’t be a fucking idiot, of course you are otherwise I wouldn’t have even left the suite.” It was out of his mouth before he was thinking and Gustave was looked a little shocked and was smiling and fuck no that was not stirring any feelings inside Dmitri.

“Well I’m rather glad you think so, darling, you yourself can become quite pleasurable company when you put your mind to it.”

“What’s that supposed-”

“Ah Monsieur Gustave, I was hoping I’d see you here.”

“Mayor Barishnokov, how lovely to have you with us again.”

“Still saying ‘us’ Monsieur as if you work here, though I suppose owning the damn place now means you can say what you like in it.”

“I suppose it does rather, and you remember my friend of course.” He gestured at Dmitri.

“Friend?” The mayor’s eyebrows raised. “Well, of course. Hello again, Dmitri.”

“Bogdan.” Dmitri peered down at the Mayor of Lutz. He surely wasn’t going to be too happy about having a disgrace to his city standing here, but fuck him.

“I’ll confess Monsieur” He went back to ignoring Dmitri. “My main reason for coming over was my sister was enquiring about you,” He waved over to his sister and she came scuttling over followed by a steady flock of her friends.

“Anfisa, darling how are you?” Gustave said and Dmitri felt a pang of annoyance at the word ‘darling’. Why was he calling anyone else that? Wait, more so why was he mad about that, that’s just how Gustave talked, but there was something possessive and… fuck he didn’t want to say the word, but okay _jealous_ , maybe he felt jealous.

Dmitri felt like an outsider watching the conversation happen. The women crowded around more and more and Dmitri felt more and more stifled. One of them squeezed her way between Gustave and Dmitri and Gustave was so engaged in conversation he didn’t seem to notice. 

“I’m getting a drink,” Dmitri muttered and clambered his way out of the hoard. He made a beeline for the nearest server carrying a tray of drinks and downed the first glass before picking up a second, glaring direct eye-contact on the server, just challenging them to judge him.

He inched his way back over to Gustave’s audience, but he watched how Gustave soaked up their attention and just seemed… at home. Loud and laughing and not how he was with Dmitri.

“-and Gustave it’s been far too long, are you sure you could not visit any of us, perhaps there’s some problem in my suite and I only trust you to come and see to it.”

Okay, how _dare_ she?

“You flatter me, Rose. What could possibly be so urgent that you would need the owner of the hotel to come and see to it?”

Wait, how dare _he_? Was Gustave really playing along with the flirtations? Alright, they weren’t making their relationship fully public yet, but he didn’t think they were trying to hide anything. Why wouldn’t Gustave shut the women down and say that he’s taken, or not interested, or fucking _anything_?

He felt himself shaking. He drank the rest of the champagne and placed the glass in his hand on a passing server’s tray as he felt if his hand kept clenching he would shatter it in his grip. He stormed his way over to the bar, hoping that Gustave watched him bumping into people on his sudden mission to get drunk.

He sat at the bar, glancing over his shoulder every now and then to watch the crowd around Gustave changing. Eventually the bastard met his gaze and plucked himself from the crowd as if it pained him and fuck that Dmitri pushed away from the bar and stalked out into the lobby and started ascending the stairs.

“Dmitri!” Good, Gustave had followed him. “I’m sorry I got so caught up.”

“Oh, sure you fucking are.”

“Dmitri-”

“No, don’t fucking bother. Go back in there, you’re clearly more comfortable talking with them than me. Let them fawn all fucking over you, see if I care.”

Gustave stared at him with that stupid soft gaze and it made him feel stupid and silly and childish. But no, he had every fucking reason to be mad. This man doesn’t get to come into his life and make him _feel_ things and then be flirting with other people. Fuck him. _Fuck him!_

“Darling, are you… Are you jealous?” He said it like he was fucking coy. How dare he?!

“Of course I’m fucking jealous, I don't want to be with anyone else and you clearly fucking do!" His eyes were stinging. Dmitri instantly tensed up. Gustave’s eyes were wide. He'd said too much. Let Gustave know too much. God he didn’t want to fucking go out in the first place.

“Dmitri…” Too late. Dmitri was already storming up the stairs, six floors but he didn’t care, perhaps it would burn some of the anger off.

It didn’t.

When he got back in the suite he slammed the door behind him and waited to see if he would hear any footsteps. Upon confirming Gustave had probably thought it was best to leave Dmitri to cool off, oh probably so he could go back to his harem, god Dmitri had been so fucking stupid. He’d known Gustave’s reputation, he’d slept with so many of his guests and he’d gone and let himself get fucking attached. How pathetic.

Fucking pathetic that he was getting upset. Words of how boys shouldn’t get emotional rang through his head and how he needed to be strong and mature and god he was not drunk enough for shitty fucking childhood bullshit to be playing through his head.

Thank fuck the hotel provided alcohol in the room.

**Author's Note:**

> So hey remember when I wrote that Dmitri/Gustave fic back in October of last year and said it was part of a series... Yeah well it was and I'd written chapter 1 of this and another complete fic and had a bunch of WIPs, however I didn't want to post the one finished fic I had or work on the other WIPs, but I had made the rule for myself that I couldn't work on those or post them until I finished this one. And so, well, I never finished this one and moved on to other fandoms and just never went back and worked on the WIPs and sort of forgot all about it.
> 
> But Vesper, my dear friend, you got me finally writing for this ship and you keep it somewhat fresh in my mind. And I recently started looking back on abandoned WIPs from last year and had started working on my House MD fics again and so now is the perfect time to try and get back working on this.
> 
> Or, well, at least to post this chapter and the finished fic I'd written almost a year ago. 
> 
> When chapter 2 gets written it may seem jarring as I know my writing's improved from a year ago and we'll see if the style of it seems very different. The main change is just how much I can write, an idea that I would have gotten 1k out of last year I get about 3k out of now.
> 
> Also keeping with the titling of the first fic in this series, all the titles are going to be lines from Anactoria by Algernon Charles Swinburne, my favourite poem.


End file.
